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Pulling back the curtains on wage-theft enforcement in MN; Trump's latest attack is on RFK, Jr; NM LGBTQ+ equality group endorses 2024 'Rock Star' candidates; Michigan's youth justice reforms: Expanded diversion, no fees.

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Assistance Available to Keep Low-Income Families Warm

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Thursday, January 22, 2015   

RALEIGH, N.C. - Thousands of low-income North Carolinians are getting some help staying warm during the chilly winter months. Twenty-two agencies and nonprofits are providing home energy-efficiency measures for eligible families through the Duke Energy Helping Home Fund. The North Carolina Community Action Association runs the program, and executive director Sharon Goodson says it will help families save money on their energy costs.

"The dollars they currently pay for energy, those same dollars will be used to assist with clothing, food and other necessities that they may not be able to provide for their families because they don't have that income currently," she says.

Goodson says $20 million is being distributed to service providers around the state for the work. The program has installed energy-efficiency measures in nearly 24,000 North Carolina homes over the past six years, and this year the goal is to assist about 4,000 families.

An energy assessment of the home will be performed to determine which measures are most appropriate, and Goodson says they could include weatherization, appliance replacements, and health-and-safety upgrades.

"Installing low-flow shower heads and hot-water heater wraps and just different things that help them to save costs," Goodson says. "The biggest piece of this is heating-system replacement. That's about 70 percent of the work that will be done."

The program is available to Duke Energy Progress and Duke Energy Carolina customers who have household income at 200 percent of federal poverty levels. Goodson says participating agencies can review eligibility.

"This program is set up for low-income Duke Energy customers," says Goodson. "So we would have to have documentation on eligibility, and those service providers are happy to assist eligible families."

More information about the program and eligibility is available at nccaa.net.


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